Appalachian Series – West Virginia
October 11, 2014
2:35:55
Temp: high 50s and POURING at the start
What I wore: hat, short sleeve shirt, Skirt Sports Happy Girl skirt,
PROCompression socks, Brooks Essential Run jacket, and my Altra Intuitions
As I mentioned, I was absolutely not trained for this race. I hadn’t run longer than a 7 mile run since August. So, I went into this knowing I’d likely not be able to run the whole thing. Added to the fun of being undertrained was the weather prediction: rainy with a side of wind.
After a relatively uneventful drive down, we stayed at some local cabins that catered to the ATV crowd. The cabin was awesome. The partying until all hours of the night in the cabins that surrounded us? Not so much. Yay, let’s add lack of sleep to the fun! We got to the race a few minutes before the start and the heavens opened. It.just.poured. From step one of the race, I was running in deep puddles.
We started just on the West Virginia side of the border and quickly passed into Virginia. The course was lovely, except for the hills and the pouring rain. As with most of the Mainly Marathon races, it was 1.09 miles out, around a cone, and back to the start, where we got our rubber bands. For the half marathoners, that meant 6 laps of the same beautiful, but tough course.
I started the race with a friend from Riverboat, which is one of the reasons I was even running the race. It was all about the people. I walked every uphill, but due to the rain and the wet leaves, was not able to benefit from the downhills. Oh well. I took it one lap at a time and kept the same pattern: walk the uphills, run the dowhills as fast as I safely could, and cruise the flats.
As I started the last lap, I was pretty much done. While the rain had stopped, I was wet and chafing and tired. I was thinking I’d just walk the last lap, but started chatting with one of the ladies who was doing the full. We chatted nearly the entire last lap and I managed to keep the same pattern I’d used the rest of the race. With a third of a mile to go, I realized that I could finish faster than my slowest half marathon, so I sprinted it in. Beer Geek couldn’t even get his camera out fast enough LOL.
The good:
- The course was beautiful.
- I got to see a bunch of people I’d met at the Riverboat Series.
- I ran everything except the uphills. I may not have been running fast, but I ran it all.
- The medal. It may be my favorite medal ever!
The bad:
- That I was only running one. It was great to see everyone, but sad to not be traveling with everyone.
- My shoes may never be the same.
The ugly:
- The rain! I’ve run some seriously rainy races, but this one was chilly on top of it!
- What being wet for 2.5 hours did to various parts of my body.
After the race, we spent the afternoon at a craft beer festival. Yes, we managed to combine a race, a beer festival, and Beer Geek’s love of weird geography all in one day.
I then spent day 2 of the series volunteering. I have to admit that I was happy to not be running. It was colder and rained for longer than the previous day. Thankfully I followed my rule of always wearing one more layer than I think I need when volunteering, so I wasn’t too cold (except for my feet from standing in a puddle for much of the time.) It was a ton of fun and awesome to give back. Such an amazingly friendly group of people!
This may be my last half marathon for 2014. It was bittersweet to see all of my Mainly Marathon friends head off to state #3 as we headed home, knowing that it’s my last series for the year and maybe my last race for 2014.
seriously
you define TENACITY.
and amazing.
and runtastic.
and….
Doing a long race in the rain is extra challenging for sure. Don’t discount all of that Ragnar training you did. It really doesn’t matter how fast you were-you completed it. Congrats and another race well done!
Congrats on the race! Although the rain does sound miserable- especially at the start!
Hey, you still rocked it! Plus the medal is pretty!
Wow, the conditions sound horrible for that race. Great job on pushing through and running most of it! The rest of the day sounds like it was much more fun 🙂
Great job!!! You did awesome despite to terrible weather conditions. Nice medal!
Wow! All that time in the rain… not me. Good for you for sticking it out and having a strong finish!
What a beautiful course! Great job, I struggle in the rain too. 🙂
Congrats on your last half marathon for the year!! And with all the rain too! Great job sticking it out.
Running in the rain when it’s cold can be hard, great job for getting through it!
Great job on your race, and very cool you volunteered too!!!!
Congrats! You did great! I’ve never had to run a race in the rain! Way to push through it!
saturday’s weather was gross. but you killed it and manage to have a fun little trip! great job!
16 half marathons in 1 year is amazing!!!
I would have hated pretty much every step of that race – running in rain is not my favorite.
Way to rock your run!! You did great!! 🙂
You are brave to go out there undertrained. I would not be happy w/ all the rain – UGH!
Oh no, rain sucks! You did great despite the bad weather!
Congrats on your last half of the year! Way to go on finishing it despite the rain. Now… I think there are some 5Ks and 10Ks (and rest) calling your name 🙂
How amazing are you to do that undertrained and in awful conditions?!! Most people would have pulled the plug. You’re a true endurance athlete.
I’m so jealous of your races this year! Congrats on running such a great race even in the rain.
I thought I was the only one crazy to do this many halfs in one year! Congrats on your accomplishment!
Fantastic job! I hate running in the rain because I get horrendous arch blisters. Great job on persevering through the rain!
why anyone would run a half marathon on minimal training is…well, you know…